Hardy Fox (1945 - 2018)
September 23, 2018 11:53 AM   Subscribe

Hardy Fox, composer for Avantgarde music group, The Residents is not dead, but is near death. The Residents and The Cryptic Corporation "prefer to celebrate his life rather than dwell on his impending exit. And to respect his actions, we will not share any details he himself does not make public."

The obituary blurb from Fox's website:
Hardy Fox grew up in Texas. After college he moved to San Francisco reveling in the free love days of 1967-68. He co-founded the much loved cult band, the Residents, where he was primary composer.

Hardy retired from The Residents in 2015 but continued to compose for the group through 2018. In addition to his work with that band, he has recorded as a solo artist under various names including Charles Bobuck, Combo de Mechanico, Sonido de la Noche, Chuck, TAR, among others.
posted by SansPoint (38 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by loquacious at 12:05 PM on September 23, 2018 [16 favorites]


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posted by djseafood at 12:22 PM on September 23, 2018


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posted by elsietheeel at 12:38 PM on September 23, 2018


damn. was a big residents fan way back in the day.


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(eventually, i guess...)
posted by Thorzdad at 12:38 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


They found a snail inside.

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posted by sonascope at 12:43 PM on September 23, 2018 [5 favorites]


They are still my favorite concert experience of all time (Cube-E at the Japan American Theatre in Los Angeles, back in January 1990).

Celebrate indeed.
posted by darkstar at 12:56 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by equalpants at 3:04 PM on September 23, 2018


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posted by lisa g at 3:07 PM on September 23, 2018


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posted by TheCoug at 3:26 PM on September 23, 2018


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posted by egypturnash at 4:09 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


🎩
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posted by ian1977 at 4:14 PM on September 23, 2018 [14 favorites]


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posted by lapolla at 4:52 PM on September 23, 2018


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A former coworker went to their studios in San Francisco to get me Duck Stab back in the vinyl days for my birthday. Thus began my time with their music. Eskimo on white vinyl is a prized possession. Seeing them live at the Fillmore in the early 90’s was the best concert I have or will see. I guess this week will be the memorial relisten of their records.

I still quote the Residents: Ignorance of your culture is not considered cool.

Thanks for all the music. 🎩
posted by njohnson23 at 5:19 PM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


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posted by evilDoug at 5:32 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


🎩
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posted by robotmachine at 5:43 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


The Residents can't be around forever, but 49 years (or 53, or 47, depending on how you count) is an amazing run when you think of the bands who aren't half as weird but twice as commercially successful and flame out in comparatively no time at all.
posted by ardgedee at 6:44 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by potrzebie at 6:58 PM on September 23, 2018


Sincere sympathies to his family and friends, when/even if the time comes.

The only time I saw The Residents live was in '89? maybe '90? somewhere outside Firenze. And when the amazing show with a small crowd was over, realized no buses were still running in the early morning, and there were no cabs on the streets. We had a long, long (two or three hours) walk home in the dark on strange streets with nothing but their music in our heads.

It was a wonderful night.
posted by vers at 7:10 PM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


What if I said I have never heard of this band or this man? Where would I start?
posted by cjorgensen at 7:46 PM on September 23, 2018


Duck Stab was a formative album for me, and Moisture was, for years, a litmus test for musical compatibility with potential partners. They, Negativland, Mr. Bungle, early Ween and Zappa make up the soundtrack of my innermost thoughts and dreams.

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posted by davejay at 7:54 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


What if I said I have never heard of this band or this man? Where would I start?

My knowledge is not very comprehensive so others may have better recommendations--but my first exposure was the Commercial Album, which is fantastic.
posted by equalpants at 7:59 PM on September 23, 2018 [2 favorites]


I have a soft spot for Bad Day At The Midway, The Residents video game in the vein of Myst.
posted by benzenedream at 8:13 PM on September 23, 2018 [4 favorites]


. . .
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:05 PM on September 23, 2018


🎩
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posted by davejh at 9:14 PM on September 23, 2018 [1 favorite]


I saw them on the Icky Flix tour, which was amazing - a sort of "greatest hits" tour. Would have been 2002, I think? Molly Harvey singing "It's a Man's World" in a sequined evening gown and huge fisherman's boots is one of those unforgettable concert memories I'll take with me to my grave. I already did my '.' but I've been thinking about the Residents for hours now. I never listen to their songs anymore, but SO many of those tunes still rattle through my head on the regular - lots of things from the Commercial Album, George & James, 3rd Reich & Roll, Freakshow...god, I still have all of "Walter Westinghouse" committed to memory and it's probably been ten years since I actually heard it.

Hardy, man, you did good. What a project the Residents were.
posted by potrzebie at 9:27 PM on September 23, 2018 [3 favorites]


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posted by servoret at 10:05 PM on September 23, 2018


The Residents have been one of my favorite bands for many years. I've always appreciated their willingness to innovate, to continually reinvent themselves, and to try weird, crazy ideas. I saw them live several times - I always had the most amazing, intense and awesomely terrifying dreams afterwards.

For where to start, there's so many choices. I'll throw out Wormwood or Demons Dance Alone as possibilities.

thanks, hardy.

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posted by chbrooks at 10:09 PM on September 23, 2018


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posted by Nat "King" Cole Porter Wagoner at 10:29 PM on September 23, 2018


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posted by SageLeVoid at 12:51 AM on September 24, 2018


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posted by frumiousb at 5:08 AM on September 24, 2018


I love The Residents, and was just listening to Not Available for the millionth time earlier this week. And it's weird: over time I've gotten a little fed up with the whole "nobody knows who the Residents are and now a word from this group of COMPLETELY UNRELATED dudes called The Cryptic Corporation *eyebrow wiggle*". But as Homer Flynn lets the mask slip more and more, and Harvey Fox makes this announcement, I find myself melancholy, wishing that game could still be played fully, without stupid mortality catching up with everyone. Death is a tyrant.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:09 AM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


I still quote the Residents: Ignorance of your culture is not considered cool.

I have a framed copy of the promotional poster this comes from, and it's one of the few things that I have an inordinate attachment to.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:14 AM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


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posted by doctornemo at 11:50 AM on September 24, 2018


This is very sad news, but I have to admit that The Residents make the ABSOLUTE SCARIEST MUSIC ever fashioned by human hands. To this day, I cannot listen to any of their stuff without flesh-crawling fright ensuing.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 2:51 PM on September 24, 2018 [2 favorites]


Listening to The Residents, for me, is like watching American Horror Story. It's not really my jam, but I love it all the same for some unknown reason.

And boy I do have some fucked up memories of playing Bad Day on the Midway.

(Although now that I think on it... maybe that's why AHS: Freak Show is my favorite of all of the seasons...)
posted by elsietheeel at 5:35 PM on September 24, 2018


(Holy cow I never knew this and I bet it could have been AMAZING: Bad Day on the Midway was optioned by Ron Howard at Imagine Television for a proposed series to be directed by David Lynch. After two years of meetings with Lynch, the project was dropped because a script was never agreed upon.)
posted by elsietheeel at 5:37 PM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


In the mid-90s, I was fortunate to work on an interactive media project (Bad Day on the Midway) with the Cryptic team, including the brilliant late artist, Jim Ludtke. Hardy was a critical source for my contribution and always willing to devote the all the time needed to help ensure I was on target--he was just incredibly thoughtful, kind, and humble from start to finish. At the end of the project, the team gifted me a book with a personal note and a sketch of the iconic eyeball on the inside cover--which I still cherish. This must be a difficult time for his family and decades-long business and creative partners and contributors--no doubt his legacy will live on in future Residents projects.
posted by prinado at 6:26 PM on September 24, 2018 [5 favorites]


I played a couple of Residents tunes on YouTube for my partner's family to show them some of the stuff I liked. I came home the next day and Small Child was playing Constantinople entirely off their own bat. Very Mind Virus.

There are quite a few Residents videos, made by the Residents themselves I assume, (which I never actually knew about when I was hunting in record stores for copies of the Commercial Album back in the day) so if you're wanting a taste, you can check them there. Low-fi visual awesomeness.
posted by Sparx at 7:19 PM on September 24, 2018 [1 favorite]


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